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This article lists divisions of the Wehrmacht (German Armed Forces) and Waffen-SS active during World War II, including divisions of the Heer (army), Luftwaffe (air force), and the Kriegsmarine (navy).
Upgrades and reorganizations are shown only to identify the variant names for what is notionally a single unit; other upgrades and reorganizations are deferred to the individual articles. Due to the scope of this list, pre-war changes are not shown. Most of these divisions trained in Berlin, which is also where new military technology was kept and tested.
These designations are normally not translated and used in the German form in the unit name or description. [1]
The designation "Light" (leichte in German) had various meanings in the German Army of World War II. There were a series of 5 Light divisions; the first four were pre-war mechanized formations organized for use as mechanized cavalry, and the fifth was an ad hoc collection of mechanized elements rushed to Africa to help the Italians and organized into a division once there. All five were eventually converted to ordinary Panzer divisions. [3]
Various other divisions were dubbed "Light" for other reasons, and are listed among the Infantry Series Divisions (see below ↓).
The backbone of the Heer was the infantry division. Of the 154 divisions deployed against the Soviet Union in 1941, including reserves, there were 100 infantry, 19 panzer, 11 motorized, 9 security, 5 Waffen-SS, 4 "light", 4 mountain, 1 SS-police, and 1 cavalry. A typical infantry division in June 1941 had 17,734 men organized into the following sub-units: [4]
Infantry divisions were raised in waves ( Aufstellungswelle ), sets of divisions with a standardized table of organization and equipment. In general the later waves (i.e., the higher-numbered divisions) were of lower quality than the earlier ones.
Divisions are listed by number and reflect their lineage where names or designations were changed over time. [5]
According to Davies, the Cavalry divisions were mounted infantry and the Cossack divisions were "true cavalry", modelled on the Russian cavalry divisions.
In 1945 the Reichsarbeitsdienst (Reich Labour Service) transferred personnel to the army to form new divisions as part of the 35th Aufstellungswelle, the last of the war.
The Hermann Göring formations grew from a single police detachment to an entire armored corps over the course of the war. The later epithet Fallschirm ("parachute") was purely honorific.
To keep its existence secret, the first German airborne division was named as if a Flieger ("flier") division in the series of Luftwaffe divisions that controlled air assets rather than ground troops-named 7th Flieger Division (often translated 7th Air Division - which see: 1st Parachute Division (Germany)) The division was later reorganized to start a series of nominally airborne divisions. Though named Fallschirmjäger ("paratrooper") divisions, only some of them participated in airdrops in the early part of the war. Whilst the first five divisions received full paratrooper training, the remaining divisions did not and in practice operated as ordinary infantry throughout their existence. The lower-numbered ones earned and maintained an elite status, but quality generally declined among the higher-numbered divisions.
Luftwaffe Field Divisions were ordinary infantry divisions organized from Luftwaffe personnel made available after mid-war due to problems with manpower. They were originally Luftwaffe units but were later handed over to the Heer, retaining their numbering but with Luftwaffe attached to distinguish them from similarly numbered divisions already existing in the Heer. [12]
These were headquarters for controlling aggregates of flak ("anti-aircraft artillery") assets rather than ordinary combined arms divisions organized for ground combat.
All divisions in the Waffen-SS were ordered in a single series up to 38th, regardless of type. Those tagged with nationalities were at least nominally recruited from those nationalities. Many of the higher-numbered units were small battle groups (Kampfgruppen), i.e. divisions in name only.
Also Panzer Division Kempf, a temporary unit of mixed Heer and Waffen-SS components.
Volksgrenadier, also spelt Volks-Grenadier, was the name given to a type of German Army division formed in the autumn of 1944 after the double loss of Army Group Centre to the Soviets in Operation Bagration and the Fifth Panzer Army to the Western Allies in Normandy. The name itself was intended to build morale, appealing at once to nationalism (Volk) and Germany's older military traditions (Grenadier). Germany formed 78 VGDs during the war. Volksgrenadier divisions were professional military formations with standardized weapons and equipment, unlike the unrelated Volkssturm militia.
Panzergrenadier, abbreviated as PzG (WWII) or PzGren (modern), meaning "Armour"-ed fighting vehicle "Grenadier", is the German term for the military doctrine of mechanized infantry units in armoured forces who specialize in fighting from and in conjunction with infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) – that is, armoured troop carriers designed to carry a mechanized squad of six to eight soldiers into, during and out of combat while providing direct fire support for those troops.
The 10th Panzer Division was an armoured division in the German Army, the Heer, during World War II, established in March 1939.
A Panzer division was one of the armored (tank) divisions in the army of Nazi Germany during World War II. Panzer divisions were the key element of German success in the blitzkrieg operations of the early years of World War II. Later the Waffen-SS formed its own panzer divisions, and the Luftwaffe fielded an elite panzer division: the Hermann Göring Division.
The Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 1. Hermann Göring was a German Luftwaffe armoured division. The HG saw action in France, North Africa, Sicily, Italy and on the Eastern Front during World War II. The division began as a battalion-sized police unit in 1933. Over time it grew into a regiment, brigade, division, and finally was combined with the Parachute-Panzergrenadier Division 2 Hermann Göring on 1 May 1944 to form a Panzer corps under the name Reichsmarschall. It surrendered to the Soviet Army near Dresden on 8 May 1945.
The 60th Infantry Division was formed in late 1939, from Gruppe Eberhardt, a collection of SA units that had been engaged in the capture of Danzig during the Invasion of Poland. This division was unusual in that its manpower was largely drawn from the SA and the police.
The 91st Air Landing Division was a German Army infantry division in World War II.
The 9th Panzer Division was a panzer division of the German Army during World War II. It came into existence after 4th Light Division was reorganized in January 1940. The division was headquartered in Vienna, in the German military district Wehrkreis XVII.
The Panzerkorps Großdeutschland was a German panzer corps in the Wehrmacht which saw action on the Eastern Front in 1944/1945 during World War II.
This is the complete order of battle of Allied and German forces involved during Operation Market Garden.
The 11th SS Panzer Army was little more than a paper army formed in February 1945 by Heinrich Himmler while he was commander of Army Group Vistula.
The Second Battle of El Alamein was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented the Axis from advancing further into Egypt.
The 708th Infantry Division was a German Army infantry division in World War II.
Second Battle of Monte Cassino order of battle February 1944 is a listing of the significant formations that were involved in the fighting on the Winter Line in February 1944 during the period generally known as the Second Battle of Monte Cassino.
The Battle of Berlin was the final major campaign of the European Theatre of World War II, fought between Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht and the Soviet Union's Red Army. It began with the Battle of the Seelow Heights on 16 April 1945 and concluded with the Battle in Berlin.
The 278th Infantry Division German: 278. Infanterie-Division was a German Army infantry division in World War II. Formed in 1940 from older personnel, the first 278th never saw combat and was dissolved after the fall to France. The second 278th was formed in mid 1942 in Belgium and was sent to Army Group C Italy in late 1943.
The 153rd Grenadier Division, sometimes referred to as 153rd Infantry Division in Wehrmacht documents, was an infantry division of the German Heer during World War II. It was founded under the name Division No. 153, and also carried the names Commander of Reserve Troops III, 153rd Reserve Division, and 153rd Field Training Division. It was first deployed in August 1939, received its first redesignation in December 1939, was renamed twice more in 1942, was destroyed by forces of the Soviet Union twice and then redeployed, and was redesignated a final time in 1945.
The 553rd Volksgrenadier Division was a volksgrenadier division of the German Army during World War II that fought entirely on the Western Front.